rudarb

The second section is something completely different, for practicing strumming and quick switching of open chords. It's in E, and goes E-A-E, A-D-A, B7-E-B7 instead of just E, A, B7. The trick is to finger the chords as simply as possible - the E is conventional, but I only use one finger (index) for the A, and just two fingers (index and middle on 3rd and 2nd strings for the D. The B7 is played just like the sliding ending chord in the lick lesson, but first position (index on 5th string, middle 5th, ring 3rd).

Ending lick, index on 2/10, middle on 3/11. Just travel back to fifth position, skipping the ninth position. That ending sliding chord, which as an E (V) chord for turning around, is easy - index 4/7, middle 5/8, ring 3/8, slide down one fret to end on 4/6, 5/7, 3/7.

Thrid lick, slide up to 10th position using middle finger on 3/11, then 2/10, 2/12, bend and release, 2/10, 3/12 - then 1/12, 1/11, 1/10, 2/12, 2/12, 2/10, so you're ending on I (A) again.

Second lick, 3/9, 2/8, 2/10, 1/8, 1/10, bend it and land back on 2/10 with ring finger, then 2/8 with a little pull bend and end on 3/9. That lick's ending on the V (E).

New "lesson" going up. SoundClick artist: River Bottom Blues Band - page with MP3 music downloads First part is "lead" stuff showing some new positions like you originally asked about. Long pauses between positions. First lick, fifth position, notation is string/fret: 3/6, 2/5, 1/5, slide ring finger up to 2/8, landing in 6th position. You're ending that lick on the root (A).

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/guit...n-arounds.html

My pleasure to hear from you. Yes, the Rally (check the backstage) is keeping me quite occupied, especially on top of work. I'll get you some feedback as soon as I can. Keep it coming, and keep practicing.

Try this, it'll give you some hints as to where out-of-box notes are (just a hint, so be patient), allow you to develop your rhythm, and even record your own backing tracks to practice over:

Index on 4th (D) string, second fret. Play the 5th (open) and 4th strings together (but only those two) twice. Then put your ring finger on the 4th string, 4th fret and strum twice. Lift your ring finger, strum twice. Put it back down, strum twice. Use the same rhythm I use on my backing track.

That's one measure (bar) of a Blues shuffle (fast or slow) in A (I). For D (II), do the same thing but on the 4th and 3rd strings. For E (V), do the same thing on the 6th and 5th strings. You're going down instead of up for V, but it's still V and sounds really cool. Let me know how you make out.

My pleasure. It's good to have a determined student.

I'm on the road a bit this week, but I'll have something new for you to work on in a day or so.

Great effort, rudarb. The chords sound clean and well-formed. I'm going to move you on to playing them as partials, in a shuffle rhythm style. It'll take me a bit to figure out how best to "show" you that.

For your scale (box) practice, try starting out slow with every note ringing out, then a little faster, then faster, etc.; ending up with one last run-through like the first - slow and distinct. If you don't have some kind of metronome, you'll want to get one or find a web page with one.

When soloing over the backing track, pay close attention to the chord changes and shift to the fret for that chord on every change. If you have to move your hand early or late to keep up, don't worry about it for now. Staying in roughly the same position when the chord changes is for a more advanced lesson, but we'll get you there.

Have you memorized the notes/frets on the 6th string yet? And any of the I-IV-V note sequences? That's important.